Papilio Buddha, a Malaylam language feature film written and directed by Jayan K. Cherian, has joined the long list of movies troubled by censorship in India in recent times. The film mainly focuses on the atrocities committed against Dalits, women and the environment and it has been accused of defaming the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi. The film had initially been banned by censor board until it recently got cleared for screening with the “adult” certification.

“This is a different kind of emergency; it's a cultural emergency in India. Culture is the new target and artists do not have gangs to defend themselves. Culture and art is not hard to attack”

It is common knowledge, without free thinking, which is essential to produce art, no society will ever achieve higher social status which India yearns for in this century. While religious organizations are notorious for such behavior, Indian Government itself gives them all a shot in the arm by banning a movie because the Indian Censor board took offense in the movies portrayal of Gandhi, the nation’s most respectful figures of the freedom struggle.

Our society is not yet ready to face the statements this film makes. The film deals with gender and Dalit issues in a raw manner, and I feel these are causes that are inseparable. Here we have a woman who was raped at her workplace coming back to rebuild a very active life. Papillio Buddha chooses not to beat about the bush. It is bold and clear and relevant. No wonder the state was worried by the revelations made so loudly and unapologetically.

Many controversial films are rejected by the countries they were exposing. I think it's so important for this film to be seen everywhere to shed light on the Dalits. Many people around the world were unaware of apartheid in South Africa.

The main stream media infested with the upper castes have for long suppressed the Dalits and hope this movie can shatter their golden thrones

The common perception of Gandhi in India and his stance on Dalits is questioned in the movie which is what made the censor board fluster. But Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, a renowned Dalit scholar and who was one of the main architects of the Indian constitution has written extensively on Gandhi and the FB page for the movie displays the quote from his book ‘What Congress and Gandhi have done to the untouchables’, published in 1945.

“There was nothing noble in the fast. It was a foul and filthy act. The fast was not for the benefit of the Untouchables. It was against them and was the worst form of coercion against helpless people to give up the constitutional safeguards of which they had been possessed under the Prime Minister’s Award and agree to live on the mercy of the Hindus. It was a vile and wicked act. How can the untouchables regard such a man as honest and sincere?

It is a must see movie. As many reviews have written, this is about dalit politics taking a militant path. The cinematography as well as the scripting is excellent. There is nothing to censor in this movie. This movie needs to be seen, discussed and accepted.

What could have been an excellent venue to display before the international audience, the life and struggles of the Dalits, a great opportunity was lost by not screening Papilio Buddha at the film festival. Just like all the government agencies are ruled by the upper caste and the powerful, the Government's own movie society also metes out the same anti Dalit treatment. Any art form which is ready to debate with the common discourse is avoided. At an earlier festival, Jai Bheem comrade, the movie by Anad Patwardhan was avoided for its political stance .

After the screening of Pappilio Budha, police came in and started to threaten the people present there including the theater owner and threatened they would file cases against the theater. They also threatened they would write to Censor board. Will they arrest the people who viewed it also?

In the sovereign free republic of India, an artist is denied permission to display his art in public. It is riveting to the say the least. That makes me ask the question which was in my mind for a long time, Is India really free? Gandhi who wrote, ‘Experiments of Truth’ is not someone above criticism. Why is everybody worried about the truth?

Papilio Buddha has been acclaimed by Dalits and even left liberals as a film that addresses caste and violence against Dalits seriously. There are differences of opinion. I have serious problems with the film. I think it eroticizes the violence against Dalits and makes it enjoyable for the upper class/middle class sympathizers of Dalit issues. It gives a possibility of sympathizing over the violence of caste. Dalit bodies are just sites of violence, the film revolves around the atrocities and focuses mainly on the failures. The contemporary advancements of Dalits are ignored and it approaches the dominant left with a soft criticism.

Manoj vishwambharan writes on Utharakalam, an online media focusing on the subaltern, sums up the whole attitude towards the movie and why we need more such movies.

When Buddha's picture is replaced instead of the erstwhile veteran communist leader E.M.S Namboothiripadu and when Gandhi is adorned with a garland of slippers in the movie, when the men and women in the movie are seen determined to represent their true Dalit culture, this movie will not only agonize the Indian Censor Board it would also agonize the common intellect of the society as well. I am none to analyse the caste favoritism of E.M.S or Gandhi. But I am sure this ban on the movie is a must for the left and the right politicos to safeguard their politics. At the same moment, this movie needs to be screened to an ordinary person to achieve a balanced political stance in their minds about Dalit identity. I am not here to talk about the merits of the movie as a whole but this is a movie which questions the unquestionable cultural history and this movie will make us think about the common propagated political myths. We need more Pappilio Buddhas like these.